In a Different World with a Smartphone Chapter 388: Black Cat and Black Dog, and Panashes Kingdom.
“Our mission would be to head towards that Eisengard country, and try to investigate its state of affairs, correct?”
“That’s right. However, there’s no need to overdo it. Act while ensuring your own safety above all else.”
The golem with the figure of a black cat, “Bastet” nodded slightly. On the side, the golem that looked like a black dog, “Anubis” also nodded while shaking his tail.
As expected of golems belonging to the same series as Fenrir, their language skills are impressive.
“Leave it to me, King-sama! I’ll blow them all away to the day after tomorrow!”
…I’m a bit worried about the dog. I wonder if he sensed my worry; Fenrir deftly smacked Anubis on the head using his foreleg.
“Ouch!? Ani, what’re you doing!?”
“Your mission isn’t to defeat the enemy. It’s to sneak in and obtain information. Don’t mistake the priority of things.”
“Yes. It’s exactly as Fenrir nii-sama says. You understand, don’t you? Don’t go and pull my feet down now.”
Is it decided by the order in which they started up; the three has become siblings with the eldest being Fenrir and the youngest being Anubis. In terms of size, Anubis is larger than Bastet, though.
“Bastet ane, do you really think I’m that stupid—”
“Yes I do.”
“Don’t cut me off and say it! And dogs are smart, you know!”
No, uh, there’s plenty of stupid dogs out there, you know. And you’re a golem anyway.
I felt that when I looked at Fenrir, but this series’ personality… Or rather, their individuality as golems are pretty developed.
I wonder if this means their brain, the Q-crystals, are ones with superlative performances compared to the average.
“If you think it’s dangerous, run away quickly. You guys have been given various power for that purpose, after all.”
The three golems’ master, Dr. Elka, spoke while patting Bastet.
I had obtained the two golems in order to not make her send her important partner, Fenrir, to someplace dangerous, but in the end, it still turned into a situation where she sends two of her important golems to that same place. Talk about getting our priorities backwards.
It’s partly as an apology, but I’ve given various powers to these two golems.
There are enchantments such as [Storage], [Accel], [s.h.i.+eld], [Fly] and [Invisible] on their collars, and ones like [Paralyze] and [Gravity] on their claws. There’s no way average humans or golems would be able to do anything to them.
Communications from the two wouldn’t be a problem even under the influence of the [G.o.dslaying Poison], apparently.
From the words of Karen nee-san, [G.o.dslaying Poison] is, at the end of the day, “a poison that harms G.o.ds, or living beings loved by the G.o.ds”, and so it wouldn’t have any effects on the two of them who aren’t living beings.
As it’s a deadly poison to us on the other hand, we could only send them until either an island off the coast of Eisengard, or the edge of a neighboring country.
I immediately brought the two golems along with me to the western region of Garudio Empire, on the opposite sh.o.r.e of Eisengard, using [Gate].
When I tried to confirm the situation of the Eisengard lands on the other side using [Divine Eyes], I could vaguely see dark gold light coming out of the ground over there.
People with no relations to G.o.ds wouldn’t see them, and there would also be no effects; that’s the [G.o.dslaying Poison], no doubt. I feel like I’m becoming nauseous just by looking at it.
“Don’t forget your regular communications. The duration will be 1 month. Make sure to return here even if you’ve not finished gathering information. We’ll come and pick you up if you send us a contact.”
“Understood.”
“Got it!”
While I believe Bastet will be fine, I’m still a bit worried about Anubis.
“… Oi, Anubis. Please remember not to talk once you’re over there.”
“Eh. Why? Buhe!?”
Bastet’s cat slap made a beautiful sound as she jumped up and hit the blank-faced Anubis with her paw.
“You big idiot! A talking dog would be the epitome of suspiciousness, wouldn’t it!?”
“Ah, okay. I see, so it’s like that. Got it!”
“… Bastet. You’re the only one I can rely on. Please make proper use of this idiot somehow.”
“Idiots are like tools; it depends on the user to make them work. I’ll definitely make good use of him.”
“Aren’t you two a bit too cruel!?”
Bastet nimbly got onto the back of the protesting idiot dog… Or rather, Anubis.
Anubis floated upwards right after that. They’ve probably invoked [Fly].
“Alright, be careful.”
“Yes. Please take care of master.”
“Yosh, let’s goooo!”
With [Accel] being activated in parallel, Anubis, and Bastet riding on his back, flew across the ocean surface with the speed of a rocket. The sea spray left in their path is quite something.
That idiot, he does this right after I told him not to stand out!? I can only pray that n.o.body is looking in this direction.
After a while, the figure of Anubis disappeared. Seems like he activated [Invisible]. Must’ve been Bastet’s decision.
Will those guys really be okay…
Well, we have no choice but to leave it to them on this end. I’ll do the things that I have to do.
“Nice to meet you. Brunhild Dukedom Sovereign, Mochizuki Touya.”
“I’m greatly obliged for your polite greeting. King of Panashes Kingdom, Labell Tell Panashes. Welcome to Panashes.”
Standing up from a chair, a good-natured grandpa with white beard extended his hand towards me.
I’d guess his age to be over seventy. However, the hand that gripped mine was powerful, and made him feel younger than his age.
Right now, I’m at the royal castle of Panashes Kingdom.
I’ve come to have a preparatory meeting for their own meeting with Refreese Imperium that will happen a few days later.
Refreese Imperium and Panashes Kingdom were the only two countries to become land neighbors after the worlds have merged together.
The northwestern tip of Refreese Imperium in the Surface World had been connected to the eastern side of Panashes Kingdom in the Reverse World.
The land that overlapped was small (it’s still bigger than Brunhild) and also uninhabited, so it shouldn’t cause a lot of trouble.
However, as it’s still something the two countries should seriously hold a discussion over, it’s been decided that the Refreese emperor would visit Panashes Kingdom in a few days together with a few of his trusted retainers.
Of course, via my transfer magic. My visit this time to Panashes Kingdom also has the purpose of setting the groundwork for that.
Accompanying me is Kohaku and Brunhild Knight Order’s vice-captain, Nikola-san, as well as several of his subordinates. The reason with this personnel selection was something like a superficial thought of showing off to the other side, really.
“I’ve heard about you from my son, Robert. Something like, riding in a huge golem, humble even while being a king and holding peerless strength, flying around the world without rest for the sake of the world and its people, a brave and resourceful, flawless and pure individual.”
Where did such a saint pop out from I wonder.
I looked towards the pumpkin pants prince standing behind the king, with a small blue golem besides him.
“That’s exactly right, father! My friend, Mochizuki Touya-dono is a man of great broadmindedness, kind to others, and thinks of the people, a wonderful person!”
“Please, nothing of the sort, Prince Robert.” (Note: Touya’s speaking in complete katakana here except for the “Prince Robert” part. Usually it means the character is speaking in a weird tone.)
That b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I know he probably doesn’t have any bad intentions, but stop raising the bar for me. Also, since when did I become your friend.
Dr. Elka’s younger sister, Norn, and Nia from the [Red Cats] both said it, but he truly is an annoying prince. The fact that he himself is like a lump of good intentions only further complicates this.
If not for the blue [Crown], Blau, bowing its head down with all its might towards me from behind the prince, I would probably have inadvertently blurted out “annoying” some time ago.
Well, even if I did say it out loud, I have a feeling he would just pay it no mind.
For the moment, while progressing with the talk about the conference with Refreese Imperium, I pa.s.sed a ma.s.s-production model smartphone to the Panashes king.
Right now, the countries in the formerly Reverse World which holds smartphones are: Primula Kingdom, Trihalan G.o.d-Empire, Strain Kingdom and Garudio Empire, the above four.
There’s the [Black Cats]’ Silhouette-san for individuals that has it as well, though.
I had pa.s.sed it over while thinking that it would be convenient for various things if more of the kings had this, but now that I think about it, since Panashes used to be an island country, it may not need to make contact with other countries as much. Well, it’s become connected to Refreese by land now, so it should become needed soon.
After I finished my meeting with the king, as expected, Prince Robert came and asked for a smartphone as well. However, I was troubled on whether I should pa.s.s him one.
It worries me a bit that there’s the possibility of him sending annoying amounts of mail to me if I gave him a smartphone.
Robert has the power of spatial transfer at his disposal via Blau’s ability. As such, he could move about between various places like me, but each time he would be forcibly put to sleep as a compensation for using that power.
As a parent, that must be worrying. If only he had a way to contact his son during those times; apparently, the Panashes king had thought that many times.
Since Prince Robert was a child that the king received at a rather advanced age, he dotes on him quite a lot.
Having said that, Prince Robert didn’t grow up to become a selfish idiot. Even I can tell that theirs is a good parent-child relations.h.i.+p where both thinks of the other dearly.
I guess there’s no way I can refuse…
“Thank you! With this, we can contact each other at any time, can’t we?”
“Only mails when it’s not important. And for those mails, summarize the important points and don’t make it too long.”
I thought about giving him Norn and Nia’s address in order to increase the potential targets, but since I might get beaten up by those two later, I abandoned that thought.
“That reminds me…”
I asked the blue golem in front of me something that had been on my mind since quite a while ago.
“Blau. I have a question for you; is it okay to ask?”
“Question? I don’t mind. What is it?”
“Do you know the white [Crown]?”
“White… Regarding [Albus], is it?”
It knows. The blue golem in front of me knows about the white [Crown].
“You remember!?”
“I have not slept for very long after the great war. Hence, I still retain some of the memories.”
Blau, who is the blue [Crown], had apparently been pa.s.sed down in the Panashes royal family since before it became a royal family, in other words, before Panashes Kingdom existed.
Due to that, it didn’t sleep for as long as the other [Crown]s, and as such seem to have retained some of its old memories.
Pasha.
“What kind of ability does the white [Crown] hold? Is it something that could repair a degrading barrier, or something like that?”
Since the two worlds had joined to become one, it should’ve produced a considerable strain on the world barrier.
If the barrier is broken, this world would have no means of defense against other worlds.
The Phrases… Or the evil G.o.d army, as they basically are that now; they’re probably not the only threat out there. There’s a definite need to look after the world barrier.
“I cannot talk about the details of the Crowns’ golem skills. I’m not allowed to speak about cla.s.sified information regarding the other Crowns by the Meister.”
Mumu. I guess that makes sense. If it can talk about that easily, then things like the weaknesses of each [Crown] holders would be easily available. The Meister… Chrome Ranches, was it? He installed some protective measures in the [Crown]s to make them unable to leak information regarding the other [Crown]s, I guess.
“The white Crown [Albus] is a special Crown. It is the pair to the black Crown [Noir], and the end. The fool that would return everything to null.”
Return everything to null…? What’s with that final weapon-like thing. I had imagined it to be something like a white mage with restorative abilities. Is it something dangerous instead…
Pasha.
“Do you know where the white [Crown] is right now?”
“Unknown. I had thought it to be with the black [Crown].”
Is that so? Then there might be some hints at the location where Noir was found. I’ll go ask Dr. Elka later.
Pasha.
“What the h.e.l.l are you taking photos of since a while ago…”
“This is amazing! See, you and Blau are showing up over here!”
“Ask for permission before taking them. That’s proper manners, you know.”
“I see! That sounds right! Then can I take one more?”
“Don’t wanna.”
I brusquely cut down the request of the prince who’s absorbed with the camera app. This guy, since he’s smart unlike what his appearance suggests, he immediately remembered the operations after looking at the manual once.
Since it seemed like he’s going to send selfies as mail attachments to me later, I sternly instructed him to do that with the king as much as possible. That king should be glad to receive photos which notify him of his son’s well-being.
After that, the prince shook his head and spoke with a serious tone.
“Touya-dono, there’s one thing I want to ask of you.”
“… I’ll listen if that’s all you want. Depending on what you want to ask, it’s possible that I might not be able to do it, after all.”
Please don’t ask me to take a two-shot together for you to make it your home screen. I might seriously punch you. It’s scary how much this prince in front of me can’t grasp the proper distance to take in interpersonal relations.h.i.+ps.
“I actually have a fiancée in Strain Kingdom; I was wondering if you could give one of these to that person as well.”
“In Strain Kingdom? Ah… Right, now that I think about it Her Majesty the Queen did say something like that.”
If I remember correctly, it’s the queen’s niece. Since the other side is part of a country’s royalty, I don’t suppose she’s some suspicious individual who I can’t trust, but I’ve never met the person in question before, so.
Well, even if someone uses the smartphones for weird things, I would know about it immediately.
According to the prince, whenever he goes to Strain Kingdom with Blau’s crown ability, he would be forced to sleep for almost a whole day afterwards due to the compensation, so they could barely talk with each other. That is quite tough, indeed.
Well, it’s something I’ve already given to Her Majesty the Queen as well as her daughter, Princess Berlietta. There shouldn’t be a problem for me to give another to someone who’s basically the princess’ cousin.
“Then let’s pa.s.s it to her ourselves. I’ll connect this place to Strain’s capital with a [Gate].”
“That is good! I can also introduce my best friend Touya-dono to Celes, so it’s two birds with one stone!”
So miss fiancée is called Celes, huh. Also, don’t make me into your best friend without my permission. I’ll admit I don’t have a lot of male acquaintances near my age group, but that’s that.
Or rather, with Ende and this guy, isn’t there too many of the oddball types… Kinda feels like it’s going to be tiring to keep being friends with them…
I opened up a [Gate], and headed to Strain’s capital together with Prince Robert and the rest.
-Pixel